Military coup overthrows Maurice Bishop •aurd Courd peoples petition of those bloods and tragie events.
HE EVENTS in Grenada, culminating with the arder of Maurice Bishop and other leaders of the volution and the seizure of power by the army, are cople's Revolutionary Army can be onetheless, an outline of the events themselves and disputes which ginning to emerge.
The news of a political DEit inside the People's evolutionary Governbegan to come out Wednesday ber. On Thursday 13 Ocber Maurice Bishop was ed under house arrest.
the next day it was: sported that Finance inister. Bernard Coard, ad his wife Phyllis, had supporters. ICKE ay, Saturday 15 October, a demonstration of several hundred people took place o the capital, St. George's lemanding the release of sishop.
At the same time Leon Cornwall, a major in the med forces and the amdaisador anpounced that Maurice bishop was being held Atlantic Ocean CUBA DOM, HAITI erialism and its allies in the region. This artide, by PHIL MEARSE, was written before the ws broke. 'Protecting "American citizens" was cily the excuse used by the US for its 1965 inIon of the Domincan republic. It seems that of the Caribbean must sulfer a In these circumstances it is the duty of every clouded in obscurity. It will be some time before precise meaning of the seizure of power by the discerned.
preceeded them, is under house for refusing to accept deciSIons of the People's Revolutionary Government and the New Jewel Movement.
He said: 'No one man can de above tne ruies, ne one man can be above the majority. The armed forces note that never in its ten and half years of existence has the New Jewel Movement accepted "one mannism" in its ranks.
Unison Whiteman, the Foreign arrested on Wis reported arrested charged with leading the pro-Bishop Radio Free Grenada quoted the Armed rorces. echoing the views of Cornwall and Coard, as saying: 'There is at present a danger that counter-revolutionary VENEZUELA socialist and anti-imperialist to stand with the people of Grenada and to expose the complicity of our own government in the plans of Reagan. The butchery in Grenada will isolate the revolutions in Nicaragua and El Salvador and its success will strengthen the confidence of imperialism and all the forces of reaction in the region. Now that confidence.
elements will seek to use this opportunity to cause a law order in the country.' 'counterrevolutionary elements' referred to were obviously the supporters of Maurice - Bishop.
The Armed Forces also on 15 October announced the of Cletus St.
Paul, one of Bishop's top aides, for spreading 'vicious rumours' of a plot to topple Bishop.
The precise facts about the 19 ents of Wednesday when Maurice Bishop was killed, are still disputed.
But again the outline of these events is clear A crowd of 3-4,000 people marched to the Prime Minister's residence released Maurice Bishop Education Minister Jacqueline Creft.
According to some reports they were very weak because they hadn't been fed during the six days of house arrest.
The crowd marched with Bishop towards Fort Rupert, where 250 troops apparently loyal to Bishop were garrisoned. At 1pm army units loyal to Armed Forces leader Howard Austin arrived, and according to some reports openBishop, fire killing Maurice Jacqueline Creft, Norris Bain, Fitzroy Bain, Vincent Noel - and also apparently Unison Whiteman.
Other reports speak of the crowd at the barracks various v numbered between 10,000 and 30,000 dispersed then Bishop and his com• patriots being put against a wall and shot.
In either case it is difficult to believe that they were shot Subsequently there have been reports killings of Bishop supwe must organise to undermine porters. The whereabouts of Bernard Coard are not known.
AS we pointer out above, it will be some time before we can make precise political evaluation of the course of the leaders of the putsch in Grenada. It is not even clear whether leader Austin Coard remain united or whether Coard in turn has been pushed But two things should pointed out immediately.
First, the revolution in Grenada has been under constant threat from imperialism these events will in the first instance play into the hands of Reagan and his reactionary supporters in the Caribbean.
Second, it goes without saying that any revolutionary socialist point of view, the shooting of revolutionary leaders is totally unacceptable as a means of settling political disputes Despite the paraphenalia of alleged participatory in Grenada, in reality the revolution has been led by a small group of leaders of the New Jewel Movement.
This movement has never had a congréss: it does not bossess me structures of internal in WHICH pollical disputes can be settled.
The result is that when a serious political dispute breaks out in the leadership it is solved by shootouts and murder. This is the opposite of proletarian The economic pressure and political threats from the world's biggest imperialist power, the United States, have undoubtedly damaged the country's The evidence available suggests that the dispute in the leadership concerned electon.
quickly to proceed with measures of socialisation of the economy and expropriation Grenada's small bourgeoisie - with Coard This supporters ad vocating more radical Let us note that this must be, in a tiny country with few resources of its There are no ready-made textbook answers to now to proceed with the construction of socialism in a nation of 110,000 people.
In any case, the viabilidepends upon extension of the the revolution the Caribbean: economic and political aid which Cuba has provided which socialists should demand of the Soviet Union: and solidarity from the world's labour novcilicit. Putsch But however valid the debate, and whoever was more correct, there is no justification whatever for the methods of army py se oh demoralise the be to demoralise the Grenadan masses. Since the debate had not been taken through any of the mass organisations, it appears very likely that the masses were at least confused about the Maurice Bishop un doubtedly possessed massive prestige ane popularity among the Grenadan people removal power without political debate •anC decision by the workers and farmers inevitably produced mass protest.
The use of the army against party leaders itself produces major dangers. Once a leadership starts to rely on the professional army, rather than • mass democracy and an armed people's militia, the road becomes open to Bonapartism and military dictatorship.
The criticisms made by the Cubans of the putsch that these In methods are unacceptable in any correctes The absolutely correct truth is that the revolution is now in grave danger. Popular confidence in the New Jewel Movement and the. PRG is bound to be shaken. The role of the army creates major dangers of a military dictatorship being imposed, or at least of army developing • autonomy the political leadership.
Imperialism now has a golden opportunity to step up its economic blockade of Grenada, even march in with its own troops.
Defence of the Grenadan revolution, against any imperialist provocation, or any temptation to use these events intervene, now number one task for all socialists.
Irrespective of the er rors of crimes committed during the present events, of the absence,, of proletarian there is no evidence yet that any grouping involved is linked with imperialism, determined to break with the revolution. Only absolutely decisive evidence that the army or political leadership has gone over to imperialism should cause our solidarity to be broken off.
But we have to sadly note that these events will make it much more difficult to build solidarity with the revolution in the whole of the Caribbean and Central America.
Moreover, the armyhacker putsc! SnOW clearly that democracy i George s Maurice Bishop not an optional extra for revolutions in under threat from imperialism, absolutely vital component of the defense of the revolution. Without mass involvement in both decision-making military defense, can be put in grave danger as soon a difference emerge - which inThe Grenadan form of consultation. the Parish Councils Zonal Councils. in no way amounted to genuine mass participation decision-making • that remained centred at the top of the PRG. The Parish Councils merely amounted to an op portunity for the Grenadan people to ask and make sugto others who Naut behalf. decisions Attendance on their Parish Council meetings declined greatly in recent mollis.
The illusions that this system represented authentic participatory democracy have been proved to be absurd. Whether even this system will survive the army-backed putsch lies in the balance The task now for socialists in Britain is to use every means to prevent ine pollucal and economi isolation of by US imperialism and to en sure that the solidarity and good will which Grenada has enjoved in the British workers movement is not destro Miles
Socialist Action 28 October 1993
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esigned from the PRG in spontes The and
Caribbean Sea VE KNOW of the invasion of Grenada by LIs
PUERTO RICO